Kids leave Fla. mother passed out drunk in minivan
COOPER CITY, Fla. (AP) – Authorities say a South Florida woman got behind the wheel of her minivan and passed out drunk, leaving her two young children to wander nearly two miles away from their home barefoot.
Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies say the 3-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl were in the minivan with Brenda Lee Duclos on Wednesday. Investigators say the children wandered off after a couple of hours and left Duclos inside the minivan still running. The children were not injured.
Deputies say she was on her way to pick up her eldest child from school when she passed out.
The mother is charged with driving under the influence and child neglect. She refused to submit to a Breathalyzer test and was being held on $5,000 bail.
Duclos’ husband, Joseph, said his wife “did a stupid thing.”